Question of sunlight through glass

[The other Ryan]

Hi all.

Just hoping to get some advice on the mentioned topic.

Obviously our trees receiving sunlight through glass isn’t optimal but is there a particular distance away from glass so the foliage won’t suffer burn?

I’ve moved recently and have a large balcony. The top half of the glass has sliding windows that come half way down and gets good airflow. To the right of the attached photo is an open staircase that is also open to the elements so the balcony is not completed enclosed. They get light from sunrise til early afternoon.

Any advice would be great! Thank you

4E66607F-F775-4459-A59B-C722636CC716.jpeg

[Watto]

Unfortunately I dodn't know the answer to your question, but just wanted that is a neat set up.

[Watto]

Unfortunately I dodn't know the answer to your question, but just wanted that is a neat set up.

[Harshadg]

Unless the panes are curved and are focusing the light at certain places, it’s not clear to me why there’l should be a problem with housing the plants anywhere inside. As long as your glass transmits visible wavelengths of light (as most untreated glass does) you shouldn’t have any problem on that front either. With these two considerations, it really shouldn’t matter where you place the pots. Maybe you want to make sure the foliage doesn’t touch the glass in case the glass heats up.

Your setup looks very neat!

Cheers,
H

[The other Ryan]

Unless the panes are curved and are focusing the light at certain places, it’s not clear to me why there’l should be a problem with housing the plants anywhere inside. As long as your glass transmits visible wavelengths of light (as most untreated glass does) you shouldn’t have any problem on that front either. With these two considerations, it really shouldn’t matter where you place the pots. Maybe you want to make sure the foliage doesn’t touch the glass in case the glass heats up.

Your setup looks very neat!

Cheers,
H

Thanks for the reply H. There’s enough room for me to walk between the glass and the stands comfortably so there’s no foliage touching glass. I guess I just monitor closely and see how they fair

[The other Ryan]

Unfortunately I dodn't know the answer to your question, but just wanted that is a neat set up.

No worries Watto! It’s a bit bigger space than what I had in Queanbeyan. A nice upgrade from a front step with 4 trees on it haha

[greg27]

At that distance I wouldn't be concerned about burning, but worth keeping in mind is sunlight through glass isn't the same as direct sunlight due to reflection/diffusion, so growth and plant health might be set back a little vs the plants being in an outdoor setting. Hard to say by how much though!

[The other Ryan]

At that distance I wouldn't be concerned about burning, but worth keeping in mind is sunlight through glass isn't the same as direct sunlight due to reflection/diffusion, so growth and plant health might be set back a little vs the plants being in an outdoor setting. Hard to say by how much though!

Thanks Greg. I know a lot of modern glass now had UV protection on it so I’m unsure how that might effect growth. The balcony glass doesn’t appear to have any tint applied like front door has which is all glass too. If worst comes to worse they will just have to go back to my parents property, which will suck but I’d rather they not fade away just so I can look at them

[greg27]

Thanks Greg. I know a lot of modern glass now had UV protection on it so I’m unsure how that might effect growth. The balcony glass doesn’t appear to have any tint applied like front door has which is all glass too. If worst comes to worse they will just have to go back to my parents property, which will suck but I’d rather they not fade away just so I can look at them

I reckon you'll be fine, it's a nice little setup in front of some large windows. Just keep an eye on things and if you notice the plants are lacking in vigour you could look into supplemental lighting or something. There's a thread on here where someone's pretty successfully growing a casuarina in Sweden so anything's possible!

[KIRKY]

At this time of year you will have no problem with burning etc.. just make sure to turn the trees every few weeks to ensure even growth. Come summer my may need to rethink their position as hot sun on windows can magnify the heat.
If you see that happening it’s easy to go get some light bamboo screens and stand them against the glass to filter the magnified heat. Windows facing North and West in summer will be the worst especially in the afternoons.
Cheers
Kirky

[The other Ryan]

At this time of year you will have no problem with burning etc.. just make sure to turn the trees every few weeks to ensure even growth. Come summer my may need to rethink their position as hot sun on windows can magnify the heat.
If you see that happening it’s easy to go get some light bamboo screens and stand them against the glass to filter the magnified heat. Windows facing North and West in summer will be the worst especially in the afternoons.
Cheers
Kirky

Summer will be interesting, the windows on the balcony are all down now and there’s a nice breeze coming through. I think when we get the typical Canberra summer temps of +30 I may need to move back further and as you mention look at getting some screening or perhaps shade cloth I can rig up to diffuse the harshness.